


Now, is no time at all

by LoveVelaquin



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Fix-It, Gen, Tony Stark Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 09:59:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18826372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveVelaquin/pseuds/LoveVelaquin
Summary: There were 14,000,605 versions of the future. Strange saw only one where they won and Thanos lost.Tony Stark had to wield the stones.But that doesn't mean he had to die.





	Now, is no time at all

Tony watched as Thanos flung Power Girl into the ground several feet away, feeling like they were about to  _lose, again,_ that it's all been for  _nothing,_ that  _Nat gave her life for nothing and half the world is about to die, again, and what if this time it's Pepper, or Rhodey, or, God no, please no, not his baby Morgan-_

And he's about to turn away, to close his eyes and hide from the pain that's about to strike him again, when he spots the Wizard- Doctor- whatever, Strange, lifting a single finger in his direction, looking at him, straight in the eye with that  _stupid_ knowing gaze-

_It was the only way._

14,000,605 futures, one shot at victory. They were still on the right path. They still had a chance to win. And Tony knew what he had to do.

He charged towards the Titan, a clear plan in his mind. Maybe he won't make it out of this alive, and he's  _so sorry_ _he has to do this to Pepper, to his little Morgoona, to Peter (shit, he_ just  _got that kid back), to Happy, to Harley, to all his friends (cos yeah, they're friends, his ragtag bunch of super buddies)-_ so yeah, maybe he'll perish, but he's gonna make damn sure the rest of the world won't have to.

He throws himself onto the gauntlet, and it's all a blur as he struggles against the Purple Asshole, then all of a sudden his back hits the ground and Thanos is speaking, all smug and assured and arrogant. He stares deep into Tony's eyes.

"I. Am. Inevitable." Then he snaps.

Nothing happens.

Tony shuffles onto his knees, fighting past the fire roaring from his arm all through his body and _god does it hurt,_ relishing in the confusion on Thanos' face when he finally realises that the stones are gone.

_It's payback time, you piece of shit._

He raises his right hand, infinity stones gleaming from his new nanite glove, and forces his thumb and middle finger to meet.

"And I," He spits out with all the conviction he's ever had, "Am.  _Ironman._ "

He snaps his fingers, there's a blinding light, and then, nothing.

////////////

Stephen keeps his eyes on Tony, even as everyone around him stared, frozen, at their enemies crumbling to dust before them. At Thanos, becoming the very ash he'd intended for half the universe to be. He sees Tony's wife, the brave Pepper Potts, rushing towards her dying husband; sees young Peter Parker pleading with his mentor, his father; sees the ever loyal War Machine, Colonel Rhodes, stand before his friend, a silent griever.

He sees all of it, and thinks:  _My turn._

He gestures at the nearest sorcerer who's looking at him, an experienced woman with ever-sombre eyes, to come and take his place holding the rush of water at bay. He gestures at a few more, instructing them to start fixing the dam before he runs over to the crowd that had gathered around their fallen hero, too shocked and grieved to make a sound.

"Excuse me, please," Stephen makes his way through the crowd that easily parted at his request, crouched down on Tony's right side and proceeded to pry the Time Stone from the melted metal glove.

"What are you doing?" Pepper Potts was staring at him, eyes perplexed and cheeks fresh with tears, hand shaking where she was grasping onto Tony's left arm.

Stephen looked steadily at her as he worked the stone back into the Eye of Agamotto, then gives her a small- barely there- smile.

"I'm saving his life."

He shoots back up onto his feet and started to herd the crowd backwards, asking them to  _just give Tony some space and please can someone prepare some water, thank you,_ in that quiet, commanding voice of his.

Then he turns to Tony, takes a deep breath to focus his mind, and activates the Eye. He keeps his left arm stretched towards Tony while his other hand moved in a deliberate manner, turning anti-clockwise three times before twisting his wrist inwards. A deep green glow envelops Tony, and in a matter of moments his charred side is whole again and he's gasping back to life, wide-eyed and ramrod straight.

There's a brief moment of silence as everyone tried to process the feat that was a miracle, then Tony breaks it, in true Tony style.

" _Damn_ that Deja vu was real, did you roar at me again, Bruce?" A dam breaks at that, and then everyone is just laughing and crying and gushing, turning to hold one another and glowing with relief. Pepper, Peter and Rhodey lunged for Tony, who gets knocked onto the ground, but he clearly doesn't mind despite a sharp  _watch the ribs!,_ eyes closing as he squeezed his family closer to him.

Stephen steps back, content washing over him as he observes the cheerful crowd. Wong comes to stand beside him, and Stephen sends him a slightly wider smile, which Wong returns with a broad grin, along with a good thump on the back.

He turns to survey the people again.

 _This_ was the future he'd seen all along.

**Author's Note:**

> So I went home after the movie, utterly devastated, and all I thought about for the next few days was how Tony could've avoided his death. Maybe someone more superhuman could've done it instead- Cap, T'Challa, Captain Marvel- any one of them would have a higher chance of surviving the Snap. But I still loved that scene and I still wanted Tony to do it- so, how to save him? Yall probably already guessed, but this idea is inspired by how Thanos undid the destruction of the mind stone in IW, which in the process brought Vision back. But he didn't rewind time altogether, cos Wanda still remembers what she did and she's still on the ground. So it makes sense to me that Dr Strange would be able to do the same- focus the Time Stone to undo the effects of the Snap on Tony, without undoing the Snap itself. Hope you guys enjoyed this!! :)


End file.
